Honey, you need help! September 9, 2011

HONEY, GET HELP! Do you feel you have to do it all yourself? Sometimes I will think that if I give in and hire someone to help me, I’ve lost the battle. I want to believe I can bring home the bacon AND fry it up in a pan! Why? Cuz’ I’m a W O M A N? No, because I’m C R A Z Y!

Too much input November 23, 2009

Today I met my breaking point. Too much input and not enough time for all the output I am responsible for. I felt like Lucy and Ethel at the request conveyor belt, trying to catch up, but the requests kept coming. I felt my chest tighten and my head get hot. Is this an anxiety attack?

Don’t Question It! November 22, 2009

When all three of my children are with me and they are firing their questions, I feel like Venus Williams on the tennis courts; darting to one side to smash that answer back and then diving for the next question without losing my footing. I can get through about 7 easily answered questions and one unanswerable question before I need a break. It’s exhausting and invigorating.

Techie please! November 6, 2009

I’d also like her to figure out why my Blackberry doesn’t sync and my Bluetooth is too big to fit in my ear. Apparently part of the problem is VISTA. Do you remember when all that word referred to was a beautiful view? I’d love it if she could explain what megabyte usage is and why I keep getting charged for it. Never mind, I don’t really want to understand.

Busy bad to busy good! October 28, 2009

One way is to adopt “Busy bad to busy good.” Let’s say, you look at your day and it is all just too darn busy – let’s face it, it’s busy bad. Now start to take apart your day – what are you busy with? Do you have to go to the gym? Why? Does this make you feel good about yourself in the long run? Are you running to pick up your kids? Are your kids a gift in your life? Do you have to pack for a vacation, buy a new dress for that party or hire a babysitter so you and your husband can go out? Is some of this busy-ness, buying you “busy good?”

A note to my children: Is this someone’s used bandaid? October 19, 2009

I’d also LOVE it if you would return my bathroom towel to me when you are finished with it instead of leaving it on your bedroom floor and would be in heaven if you could wash the Cheetos dust off your little fingers before you use my cell phone and grind the little greasy specks in between the keys.

What are you afraid of? October 11, 2009

Clearly we care for our kids, but if we are afraid of our child’s world and feel we need to protect them at every turn, are we actually creating an environment in which all we can see is danger? If we expect a world that doesn’t nurture our children, are we creating that too? What do I mean by “creating?” I mean that we see what we are looking for in life and if we are looking for a world that is scary, we will find plenty of things to be afraid of.

Everything’s negotiable (or so it seems.) October 9, 2009

Perhaps, parents have an opportunity to teach responsibility, communication and self-confidence through negotiation. But the first negotiation may have to take place inside the parent’s mind and heart. After all, negotiation is an art and a craft. With some practice, parents can master both and that could be a wonderful gift to their children.

I’m living in the spin cycle! October 8, 2009

If we break down the phrase, we find some powerful words. First of all, we’re “living” – better than the alternative and all that. What about “spin cycle?” The spin cycle is just that, it’s a cycle. One of the inherent truths about a cycle is that it is constantly changing. Maybe we can accept this part of the cycle with the knowledge that the cycle changes and with those changes come new opportunities.

Is it me? (I’m afraid so!) October 8, 2009

Somewhere between the garage and the school yard, the kids would have to get dressed and fed on their own. As I negotiated the well known short cuts on our drive to school and began to make up time, I felt myself relaxing. The children were laughing with each other and I could see that we would arrive on time. That would have been a great time to enjoy the absence of chaos, in blissful silence. But instead, I chose that moment to announce that I had an unexpected business meeting that evening and their least favorite babysitter would be staying with them. I was immediately enveloped with whining and complaining. How did this happen? What was I thinking? Was it me?